what is badugi poker

The rules of the game of badugi

Badugi Poker is now considered to be one of the most interesting and exciting card competitions. It is a truly unusual game. The game originated in Asia, and interestingly enough, the varieties in this game differ from any other poker game.

The first thing to note is that there is no need to form a combination like in poker. Of course, many will say that this is the point of the game, but everyone has their own preferences. For example, those who have already managed to understand all the varieties, it is clear that the game is very entertaining and definitely worth attention.

The rules of the game

As already mentioned, it’s very interesting and unusual, and at least that’s why it’s worth trying.  In fact, there are more similarities with 2 7 Triple Draw poker, but not without differences. Here, the player is dealt only four cards.

As with the other hand, there’s a dealer, there’s blinds. The game is played as follows:

  1. The dealer deals the cards.
  2. Bidding starts with the player to the left of the dealer. The rules are that the game is played with fixed limits. This uses a low bet for the first two rounds and a high bet for the rest. BB is an amount twice the MB.
  3. After that, there is an exchange. During this round anyone can exchange the cards they have in hand or keep theirs. And you can swap all the cards you want, at your own discretion. This can be done three times per hand.

At the end of the game each player who has not reset, simply shows their cards and that’s how the winner is decided.

baduga poker rules

What do I need to know about combinations?

Combinations are ranked by the number of cards that make up the poker player’s final set. It should be said that:

  1. A set of 4 cards is a badugi, the best combination in the game.
  2. A combination of three cards.
  3. 2.
  4. 1 card – the weakest combination.

Of course, there are situations where, after a showdown, the players show their cards and it turns out that they have the same cards. In that case the winner is the one who has the lowest card.  

That is, it is clear that you have to make sets from the highest card to the lowest. And if one player has a 9-8-3-2, then it’s better than a 10-5-4-2. And you should also take into account that the ace is the lowest card.

To clarify, if a player is holding 3 Jacks and 1 King, he’ll be holding a combination of J-K. And we always need to consider his suits and understand that the strongest combination is A234 with different suits. As you can see, the game is really specific in terms of combinations, so you need to spend some time on this one.